Thursday, January 30, 2014

A driver who allegedly shot and killed an Immigration Officer on December 28, 2013, was Wednesday remanded in custody by the Accra District Court.

The accused, Aaron Takyi, who worked for the deceased, Kofi Quist
Defor, for five years as a driver, was remanded in police custody to
reappear on January 29, 2014.
He is facing one count of murder but his plea has not been taken.Facts of the case
At about 2.00 a.m. on December 28, 2013, Defor and his wife were
asleep when the suspect scaled the wall into the house without the dog barking and entered the living room through the kitchen door. According to the police, the dog did not bark because it knew Takyi.
Takyi allegedly broke into Defor’s bedroom, dragged him to the living
room and subjected him to severe beating. He later shot Defor in the
right shoulder and also hit him severally on the neck, rendering him
unconscious. He then abandoned him and fled.
Defor bled profusely out of the gunshot wounds and when he was rushed to the Tema General Hospital, he was pronounced dead on arrival.Background
Defor, an Immigration Officer, lived at Mataheko, near Tema with his
wife, Magdalene Tamakloe, and his siblings; Gideon Defor and Jennifer
Lamptey, both students.
Takyi, according to the police, had access to almost everything of Defor and became familiar with an Alsatian security dog in the house.
Apart from Gideon Defor and Jennifer Lamptey, who fed the dog, only Defor and Takyi could go near it.
According to the prosecution, led by Assistant Superintendent of
Police, Mr Cletus Abadamlora, the accused unceremoniously stopped
picking calls from Defor and his wife a week before the incident, with
the excuse that Defor failed to buy him a Sprinter bus.
Mr Abadamlora said Defor established contacts with some foreign companies during his posting at the Immigration Headquarters, including Blow Group of Companies and while on transfer, he still rendered services to these foreign companies.
The prosecutor also said sometime in 2012, Defor received a
threatening note which read: ‘Blow plast your man is too arrogant in the
office. He thought his schooling so he is not given any respect in the
office. This is just the beginning of the battle with him. Immigration
is not belong to him is for all of us because we are Ghana. We don’t
want you to be in trouble that is why we posted the passport back to you
to restart the process afresh. Thank. This should be a lesson to QUIST
in the office stupid man.”
Mr Abadamlora said Defor, however, treated the note as a joke and,
therefore, did not act on it. He eventually faced his untimely death on
December 28, 2013.
Investigations are ongoing.